One of the strongest chess tournaments ever assembled moved to Russia’s Red Square today. Viswanathan Anand demonstrated to the world that he is not satisfied to “rest on his laurels” but is willing to use whatever means necessary to defeat his challengers at the Tal Memorial. The first 21 moves are considered book.  It is very difficult to tell exactly where Leko went wrong and how Anand’s 30.h3 clinched the victory.  Please enjoy our current World Chess Champion at his finest.

[Date "2009.11.10"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "5"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Viswanathan Anand"]
[Black "Peter Leko"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2788"]
[BlackElo "2752"]
[PlyCount "90"]

1. d4 d5{notes by Chris Torres} 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8.
Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Ne5 Bg7 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13. Bd6 a6 14. a4
e5 15. Bg4 exd4 16. e5 c5 17. Re1 Nxe5 18. Bxe5 O-O 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Ne2
f5 21. Bh5 f4 22. Nxd4{a rarely played idea invented by Kasimdzhanov} cxd4 23. Re6 Bc8{23…Bc8 seems to be good enough to draw. Rf6 is the alternative which could lead to 24.Qe1  Rxe6  25.Qxe6  Qc7  26.Re1  d3  27.Re5  d2  28.Rf5  d1Q+  29.Bxd1  Rf8  30.Rxf8  Kxf8 which is complicated but equal} 24. Rg6+ Kh7 25. axb5 Rf6 26. Rxf6
Qxf6 27. Qc2+ Bf5 28. Qxc4 Rc8 29. Qd5 axb5 30. h3{The little move which changes it all. All of a sudden Anand is winning.}  Kh8{Rc7 is an alternative. However… if Anand continues 31.Ra8  Be6  32.Qd6 31. Qxb5 Rf8 32. Ra6 Rd7  33.Qc6  Re7  34.Ra6  d3  35.Qd6  Kg7  36.Bg4  d2  37.Qxd2 he will still win} 31. Qxb5 Rf8 32. Ra6 Qg7 33. Rd6{Anand uses fantastic technique for the remainder of the game to seal Leko’s fate.} d3 34. Qb6 Qe5 35. Bg6 d2 36. Bxf5 Qxf5 37. Qd4+ Kh7 38. Qxd2
Rf7 39. f3 h5 40. Rd5 Qg6 41. Qa5 Rg7 42. h4 Qb1+ 43. Kh2 Qxb2 44. Rxg5
Rxg5 45. Qxg5 1-0

World champion Viswanathan Anand played out his third draw with black pieces after facing Ukraine’s Ruslan Ponomariov in the fourth round of the Tal memorial chess tournament at Hotel National in Moscow on Sunday.

Anand’s 32-move draw took his tally to 2.5 points on a day when only Vladimir Kramnik won to emerge as the leader at three points.

Anand once again chose the Grunfeld Defence and had no trouble in coming out with a draw. A series of exchanges led to an ending where the players were left with opposite coloured bishops and pawns.

After a day of rest, when the action shifts to Gum Mall for the remaining five rounds, Anand will play with white pieces against Hungary’s Peter Leko in the next round.

Kramnik, who started the day by sharing the lead with Anand and Armenia’s Levon Aronian, cruised to his second successive win that resulted in consecutive losses for his Russian compatriot Peter Svidler. Kramnik, like Anand on Friday, got around Svidler’s Grunfeld Defence and proved superior in 37 moves.

Top seed Magnus Carlsen, suffering from throat infection, was involved in a draw for the fourth successive round after facing Aronian.

The results:

Fourth round: Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukr, 2) drew with Viswanathan Anand (2.5); Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 3) bt Peter Svidler (Rus, 1); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 2) drew with Levon Aronian (Arm, 2.5); Peter Leko (Hun, 1.5) drew with Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr, 2); Alexander Morozevich (Rus, 1.5) drew with Boris Gelfand (Isr, 2).

Carlsen, futuro campeón mundial...sin dudas

El mayor prodigio del ajedrez todavía no cumple los 19 años. Su rostro es el de un niño, no le gusta hablar en público y se viste de una extraña manera; pero, frente al tablero, nadie impresiona más y pocos dudan que Magnus Carlsen no alcance el título mundial. El talento le sobra y si este se combina con los consejos de su entrenador, Garry Kasparov, entonces el noruego tiene todas las condiciones para continuar brillando.

Carlsen acaba de triunfar en uno de los torneos más fuertes de los últimos tiempos, celebrado en Nanjing, China. Allí se reunieron seis Grandes Maestros de la elite, entre ellos el líder del ranking universal, el búlgaro Veselin Topalov (2813). Los 2764 puntos de promedio ELO le otorgaron al evento la categoría XXI, según la Federación Internacional (FIDE, por sus siglas en francés).
Los analistas consideraron a Topalov como el principal favorito; sin embargo, después de las dos primeras rondas, esos criterios variaron notablemente porque el prodigio mostró un nivel de juego por encima de sus rivales y no fue una sorpresa su triunfo ante el húngaro Peter Leko; aunque, sin dudas, la mayor atracción resultó la convincente victoria, con blancas, frente a Topalov.

Luego llegaron más éxitos contra el ruso Dimitry Jakovenko, el azerí Teimour Radjabov y solo el chino Wang Yue pudo lograr un empate. Con 4,5 unidades, el noruego concluyó la primera fase del evento cómodamente ubicado en la cima.

Tal vez algunos esperaron que Carlsen se mostrara menos agresivo en la segunda parte, pues ya tenía casi asegurado el título; pero nada de esto ocurrió: el prodigio entabló con Leko y Topalov, derrotó en un complicadísimo final a Yue y aplastó otra vez a Jakovenko en la ronda conclusiva.

En total, el noruego logró ocho puntos de diez posibles, ganó más de 25 unidades para su ELO de 2772 puntos y aparecerá en la próxima actualización del ranking en la segunda posición, por encima del actual campeón mundial, el indio Viswanathan Anand y muy cerca de Topalov.

Antes de que comenzara el torneo de Nanjing, en los días previos al tan publicitado match entre Garry Kasparov y Anatoly Karpov, finalmente se confirmó un rumor que había circulado entre los seguidores del ajedrez: el “Ogro de Bakú”, el jugador más extraordinario de las últimas dos décadas, el ahora político Kasparov es el entrenador principal de Carlsen.

Los resultados de la unión Kasparov-Carlsen pudieron verse en Nanjing. La agresividad en el medio juego y la exactitud en los finales caracterizaron el juego del “Ogro” durante su reinado y esta forma de afrontar las partidas estuvo presente en Carlsen.

Con blancas, el prodigio asombró con una apertura Escocesa frente a Leko; mientras, con negras, alternó entre la defensa Gruenfeld (tres oportunidades) y la Siciliana (dos ocasiones). Carlsen llegó a finales complejos ante Jakovenko y Yue y prevaleció las dos veces.

Después de su brillante demostración en la ciudad china, los próximos retos del noruego serán el Mundial de blitz—donde estará el cubano Leinier Domínguez— y la Copa Mundial de Khanty-Mansiysk. ¿Y luego?

La mayoría de los especialistas y seguidores del ajedrez coinciden en afirmar que Magnus Carlsen alcanzará el título mundial. ¿Cuándo? Eso dependerá de muchos elementos, no solo de su calidad, pues el sistema implementado por la FIDE para la discusión de la corona es muy enrevesado. En 2010, Anand y Topalov se enfrentarán en un match que todavía no tiene definida una sede.

Quizás Carlsen demore hasta un lustro en ser reconocido “campeón”; aunque hoy es uno de los tres mejores ajedrecistas del orbe. Lejos parecen los días de finales de los noventa cuando el niño de ocho años tocó por primera ocasión las piezas de ajedrez.

Así comenzó la relación con el juego ciencia de quien es llamado “el Mozart del ajedrez”. En 2003, con 13 años, se convirtió en el tercer Gran Maestro más joven de la historia. Algunos meses más tarde participó en su primer Campeonato Mundial de la FIDE; sin embargo, es a partir de 2008 que Carlsen salta de la mitad de la tabla a las primeras posiciones. Ese año ganó el Corus de Wijk ann Zee.

El ascenso en el coeficiente ELO de Carlsen también ha sido sorprendente. En octubre de 2006 ocupaba la posición 22 del planeta, con 2698. Tres años después era tercero, 2772, y con los puntos obtenidos en Nanjing podría superar las 2800 unidades.

Carlsen es el más destacado jugador de una generación de jóvenes que ha sabido aprovechar a las nuevas tecnologías para elevar, con rapidez, su nivel. Enormes bases de datos, potentes softwares que ayudan a analizar posiciones, partidas online; pero nada de esto suple al talento y al entrenamiento diario.

El prodigio no asiste a la escuela—una decisión muy criticada en Noruega—, vive dedicado completamente al ajedrez, cuenta con el apoyo familiar y ahora tiene como entrenador a quien fue el mejor del planeta por muchos años. Magnus Carlsen, el Grande ¿Alguien duda que no merezca el epíteto?

Publicado en Cubasí

Vea:   Biografía de Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand :

Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand an Indian Chess champion and the
current world champion, was born on 11th December 1969 in Chennai,
Tamil Nadu to Krishnamurthy Viswanatha and  Susheela. His father
Krishnamurthy, who is an retired General Manager, Southern Railways,
and mother Susheela, housewife is an chess/film/club aficionado and an
influential socialite. He has 2 siblings- a brother and a sister.

He gives all his credit for his chess play to his mother, who motivated him
so much that he started playing uner the age of 6. He described his start in
chess in a conversation with Susan Polgar who is a Hungarian-born American
chess player.

Anand did his schooling in Don Bosco, Egmore, Chennai and holds a
degree in commerce from Loyola College, Chennai. When he is not playing
chess he enjoys pursuing his other hobbies of reading, swimming & listening to music.

His Great achievements:

Anand won the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000 for the first time after defeating Alexei Shirov in the final match held at Tehran.

In September 2007, he once again succeeded in becoming the World Champion by winning that year’s FIDE World Championship Tournament held in Mexico City.

In 2008, Anand was successful in defending his Championship title against
Kramnik in the World Chess Championship held in October in Bonn, Germany.

After such fine play resulting in consecutive successes, he became the first person to win the world championship in three different formats: Knockout, Tournament, and Match.

Anand is one of the four players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list. He was at the top of the world rankings five out of six times, from April 2007 to July 2008. His reign since July 1996 in the top three spot ended in October 2008 as he got dropped out of the world top three ranking.

In 2007 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award. He is also the first reciver of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991?92. India’s highest sporting honour.

Notes: How are chess players ranked? Where do you fall on the scale?
John McMurtery: Players are ranked by a complex rating system that factors in how many games they’ve played, what their results were, and how strong their opposition was.  For instance, we score more rating points for beating a higher rated player.  An average tournament player is rated around 1500.  A rank beginner might be about 700 – 800; a Grandmaster’s rating will be 2500 and above (the current World Champion, Viswanathan Anand of India, is rated 2791).  Right now I don’t have a specific chess rating because it has been 15 years since my last tournament.  I am currently training to become part of the competitive chess world again.  My lifetime goal is to reach Expert level, which is above 2000.

Notes: How long does a game last? And how do you train?
John: In tournament situations, a game can last anywhere from an hour to 5 hours or more.  Many players prefer shorter time controls, like blitz, rapid, and speed chess.  The video below shows one such game; the clock is set to two minutes per side for the entire game.  At the end, white loses on time and black has 9 seconds left on his clock.

In online chess, one can play on an internet server at very fast speeds, or set up slower time controls (currently I have one game set to 14 days per move).

Right now I have 5 games going on simultaneously online – These are people I don’t know, from all around the world, from Las Vegas to the Phillipines.  That’s one of the things that I love about playing online. You can converse with them through a chat window on the game screen if you so desire.

The training process is different for each player.  I like to balance my study time between endgames, middlegame (tactics and strategy), and learning openings.  Books are best for openings and endgames.  For tactics and strategy, chess.com has two wonderful interactive features called Tactics Trainer and Chess Mentor, both of which assist the chessplayer in improving rapidly, if he or she puts in the time.  Of course, there is no substitute for playing lots and lots of game.

Notes: When you play in person, doesn’t charisma and presence play a big part in influencing your opponent?
John: Playing in person, the force of charisma can influence perception of the game.  Russian Grandmaster Mikhail Tal was famous for staring his opponents in the eyes, nearly putting them in a kind of hypnotic trance.  Other players speak of measuring their opponent’s breathing, to find out if they are under stress during a game.  Josh Waitzkin (of Searching for Bobby Fischer fame) writes about one of his opponents kicking him under the table at crucial moments.  It’s not legal, but these things do occur in competitive chess.

Notes: I bet there have been similar ‘kicks’ in the orchestra pit!?
John: Charles Wyatt, in his book Listening to Mozart, relates a story in which the principal flutist in an orchestra, while playing a solo, has his page maliciously turned by the second flutist.  I’ve always wondered how fictional that story really is!

Notes: What is your advice to people who would like to start? Can you recommend websites, learning resources?
John: Many, many musicians are also avid chessplayers, so chances are great that someone who wants to learn the game already knows people who play regularly.  I personally think it’s more fun to learn from a person rather than a software program, though there are many programs available to teach you the rules and the basics.  Chess.com is my favorite chess website.  There are articles and features there for players of every level.  You can create an account and start playing immediately for free.  As you progress, you can consider paying the nominal fee for the most advanced features.

For more information on John McMurtery, please visit: www.johnmcmurtery.com

REFERENCES:

Kasparov, Garry.  How Life Imitates Chess.  New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2007.

Waitzkin, Josh.  The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance.  New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007.

Wyatt, Charles.  Listening to Mozart .  Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1995.